Queensland Commercial and Charter Fishing Grants Program

Successful projects 2023–24

• Promotion and industry-led campaigns

  Australian Council of Prawn Fisheries Ltd

  Deliver an opportunity for the Queensland wild prawn industry and a solution for the food service sector ahead of the implementation of Country-of-Origin labelling — local options that can be profitably offered at all levels of food service.

• Trialling alternatives gears, innovation and industry modernisation

  Individual applicant

  Quantitatively test and distribute a novel bycatch-reduction device that, when combined with an effective turtle-excluder device, results in the significant reduction of bycatch. Preliminary observations show a significant reduction in the number of sea snakes caught, along with large reductions in fish bycatch.

  Queensland Sea Cucumber Association

  Trial dive loggers in the sea cucumber fishery to show their potential to provide fine-scale spatial catch and effort data to help understand the stainability of sea cucumbers and economics of fishing a sedentary and patchy resource.

• Responsible and sustainable fishing practices and education

  Moreton Bay Seafood Industry Association

  Help local wild-catch industry develop codes of best practice for the major commercial fisheries within Moreton Bay — 5 core procedural objectives via 3 stages.

  Pro Vision Reef

  Build community and market confidence in the marine aquarium industry on the Great Barrier Reef and in the Coral Sea through commitment to the highest standards of environmental performance.

  University of the Sunshine Coast

  Provide significantly better post-release mortality estimates and biological data for scalloped hammerhead sharks in the east coast inshore fin fish fishery, leading to improved management strategies for the species.